Corrective shoe



MalCl'l 27, 1934'. SABEL Er AL 1,952,684

CORRECTIVE SHOE Filed July 2, 1931 Patented Mar. 27, 1934 1,952,684 Y,conmic'rwli SHOE Isadore Sahel, Philadelphia, Pa., and Laurie S. Macdonald, Brockton, Mass.; said Macdonald assigner of 'his right to Thompson Bros. Shoe Co., Brockton, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application July 2, 1931, Serial No. 548,308

2 Claims.

This invention relates to shoes of a corrective type and is particularly intended to furnish a shoe that will aid a foot that has been operated on for the correction of deformities such as club-foot in 5 order that such a foot may be retained in a proper position to effectively overcome its tendency to relapse into its former distorted or abnormal position.

A club-foot is one whose forepart is turned or drawn inwardly from its normally longitudinal axis by the tension or pull of tendons and ligaments on the inner side of the foot pulling it in that direction. After a corrective operation upon these tendons and ligaments the foot is conned or held by a brace structure that positions it in a substantially normal position, butit is desirable that as soon as possible after the healing of the incisions necessitated by the operation the foot should be exercised while properly supported against return to distorted position, which it tends to do.

The shoeA comprising the present invention is intended for use on such a foot and is especially constructed on novel lines to overcome the still existing tendency of the forepart of such foot to turn inwardly, while at the same time providing the Very desirable freedom of movement to the muscles and bones of the foot to permit walking or the like without discomfort to the child wearing the shoe.

With these objects in view the invention comprises a correctional shoe construction with certain special features, which tend to hold the forepart of the foot well outside of what would be the normal position of that forepart in relation to the heel part of the foot while avoiding any harsh contact with, or pressure against, a stii or rigid member which would cause discomfort, so that in time the foot will acquire a normal posture allowing the use of a normal shoe after the trouble has been fully overcome.

In the accompanying drawing is illustrated -a simple and effective form of shoe construction embodying the principles of this invention, in

which Fig. l is a side elevation viewing the outer side of the shoe, a portion of the upper being broken out to show the position of the stiffening counter on that side.

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view showing the contour of this corrective shoe in contrast with the dotted line contour oi a shoe for a normal ioot.

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section through the ball portion of the shoe.

In order to clearly understand the structural features of the shoe comprising the present invention, a brief reference will be made to the characteristic features of shoes made for normal feet, it being understood that these correctional shoes are intended for growing children rather than for adults aiilicted with club-foot, since it is not customary to operate onladults for this trouble.

A shoe for a normal foot is made with the medial longitudinal axis of the iorepart intersecting at an obtuse angle the medial longitudinal axis of the heel portion of the shoe at a point somewhat in advance of the breast line of the heel or at a point approximately beneath the scaphoid or navicular bone of the angle portion or tarsus of the human foot for which said shoe is intended. Such medial axis of the fcrepart is inclined substantially inward in relation to the medial axis o1" the heel portion in a normal shoe.

This relation of the orepart of a normal shoe to the heel portion is indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawing by means of the dotted line a and the medial axis of the iorepart is indicated by line :l: intersecting the medial line y of the heel portion at 'the angular point o in Fig. 2. Furthermore, in a childs shoe for a normal foot a straight line drawn tangent to the outermost point of the outside ball, as indicated at t, would fall well beyond or outside of the side of the heel portion of the shoe upper. The apex o is located a short distance in front of the heel breast line of the shoe to 85. bring it approximately beneath the scaphoid bone of the foot, which forms a main part of the pivotal joint between the forepart of the heel portion of the foot.

The corrective shoe is shown in full lines in 9o the drawing and comprises the Vamp portion 1, the two side members, namely, the inside quarter 2 and the outside quarter 3, which are stitched to the rear edge portion oi the vamp with their adjacent edges spaced apart on either side of the medial vent, each quarter being provided with a row oi eyelets 4 for retaining the usual shoe laces. The bottom edges of the vamp and of the quarters are stitched to the sole or bottom 5 of the shoe, preferably by stitches 6 in any well known manner, such for example as by the well known Goodyear welt process. A tongue 7 stitched to the rear top edge of the vamp closes the vent over the instep between the two side members or quarters. The Vamp is preferably made quite short and the 195 quarters are made correspondingly long to carry the vent well forward in order to permit very easy insertion of the foot into the shoe.

The shape or bottom contour of the shoe is distinctly dilerent from that of a normal shoe, as

above described, and is such as one might conceive if we consider the whole forepart as swung outward from about the pivotal point o until the medial axis of the forepart forms an approximately straight line extension oi:` the mediall axis of the heel portion. It should be understood that it is not essential that these two axes should form an absolutely straight line, since the forward axis in particular cases might fall slightly short of, or even beyond, that straight line position as the forepart is swung away from what would be the normal axis toward the outer side of the foot. Nevertheless, generally speaking, the forepart axis will closely approach the straight line continuation of the medial axis of the heel part in marked contrast with the substantial divergence of the forepart axis toward the inner side of the shoe in a normal shoe.

The last on which the corrective shoe is made will have the same characteristic feature and shows even more plainly than the finished shoe the outward twist or swing of the forepart from the normal relation to the heel portion.

To further insure against the tendency of the forepart of the foot to turn inwardly, the stiffening counter 10 is extended on the outer side of the shoe, as shown in Fig. l, to approximately the position of the outside ball point of the shoe so as to form an anchorage for the subtending portion of the ball area of the upper. When the upper is laced together the ball portion forms, so to speak, a flexible and soft retaining strap acting to keep the forepart of the foot from turning inwardly and, since the anchorage is on the outside v of the shoe it does not involve any harsh contact or pressure of the ball of the foot against a hard or rigid obstruction, while at the same time holding it so easily against inward swing as to give the parts of the foot full freedom of movement in walking and the like.

It will be understood that since the forepart of the shoe is turned outwardly considerably beyond the normal forepart position in relation to the heel axis, the inserted foot of the child wearing this corrective shoe has its forepart positioned well outside of what would be a. normal position but this very feature results in greatly facilitating the permanent correction of the foot by overcoming its tendency to return to distorted position, paricularly since the ball portion of the upper is provided with a special anchorage at the outer side of the shoe which avoids discomfort and thereby encourages the fuller exercising of the foot by the child.

With the forepart disposed outwardly from what would be the medial axis of a normal shoe, a line drawn tangent to the outside ball point of the shoe will intersect or touch the heel portion of the upper, as shown at t in Fig. 2.

What we claim is:

1. A corrective shoe for treating club-foot and the like, embracing a stii shoe bottom, and an attached upper, a stiffenng counter extending forward on the outer side of the shoe to approximately theV ball portion of the shoe, the forepart and the heel part of the shoe being so related as to have their respective medial axes form substantially a straight line continuation of eachother.

2. A corrective shoe whose upper is formed with a vent extending forwardly of the ball line of the shoe, the orepart and the heel portion of said shoe being relatively positioned to have their respective medial axes extend in an approximately straight line, and a stiiening counter whose forward end on the outer side of the shoe terminates approximately at the ball point of the shoe thereby forming an anchorage for the ball portion of the upper when the vent is closed snugly over the instep of the foot to hold the forepart of the foo against turning inward.

ISADORE SABEL. LAURIE S. MACDONALD. 

